'He was the image of the heroic English schoolboy - tall and slim with that casual air of confidence and authority'

It was for a Bygones article more than 20 years ago, marking a 60-year reunion for the 'Old Centaurs' of Derby Central School that former Derby Telegraph journalist John Garratt recalled memories of Neville Dilkes and a momentous first day at the school in 1944. This is an excerpt from his recollections

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FOR lifetime, the cream and green Derby Corporation trolleybus No 43 pulled smoothly to a stop in Duffield Road at exactly 8.55am on a bright autumn day.

Just opposite, the petrol-driven arterial road bus at the top of Broadway was already discharging its load of young passengers into the morning sunshine.

The first flush of autumn was settling on Derby and there was peace and tranquility in the air but the youngsters who tumbled off the buses were oblivious to the delights of the day.

Rush hour was a world away and most of them crossed the empty road quickly, anxious to seek out old friends and renew a familiar routine.

They forged ahead, leaving in their wake a nervous knot of freshly scrubbed 11-year-olds in short trousers, long socks and pristine blue blazers, their carefully combed hair flattened beneath brand new school caps and their school ties tight against their shining necks.